and, scented gloves, fans,
or like toys amused the idle fingers.

In the background Rebecca was only vaguely conscious of a group of
ladies in dresses of comparatively sober pattern and color; but seated
upon a luxurious cushioned bench just in front of the others, one of her
sex struck Rebecca at once as the very centre and climax of the
magnificence that surrounded her.

Here sat Elizabeth, the vain, proud, tempestuous daughter of "bluff King
Hal." Already an old woman, she yet affected the dress and carriage of
young maidenhood, possessing unimpaired the vanity of a youthful beauty,
and, despite her growing ugliness, commanding the gallant attentions
that gratified and supported that vanity.

Her face, somewhat long and thin, was carefully painted, but not so
successfully as to hide the many wrinkles traced there by her sixty-five
years. Her few blackened teeth and her false red hair seemed to be
mocked by the transcendent lustre of the rich pearl pendants in her
ears. Her thin lips, hooked nose, and small black eyes betokened
suppressed anger as she glared upon her admiring visitor; but, far from
being alarmed by the Queen's expression, Rebecca was only divided
between her admiration of her magnificent apparel and blushing
uneasiness at sight of the frankly uncovered bosom which Elizabeth
exhibited by right of her spinsterhood. Rebecca remembered ever
afterward how she wished that "all those men" would sink through the
floor of the cabin.

The Queen was at first both angry at the unheard-of language Rebecca had
used, and curious to see what manner of woman dared so to express
herself. But now that she set eyes upon the outlandish garb of her
prisoner, her curiosity grew at the expense of her wrath, and she sat
silent for some time while her little black eyes sought to explore the
inmost depths of Rebecca's mind.

Rebecca, for her part, was quite unconscious of having infringed any of
the rules of courtly etiquette, and, without expressing her belief in
her complete social equality with the Queen or anyone else present, was
so entirely convinced of this equality that she would have deemed a
statement of it ridiculously superfluous.

For a few moments she stood in the middle of the open space immediately
before the Queen, partly dazed and bewildered into silence, partly
expectant of some remark from her hostess.

At length, observing the grimly rigid aspect of the silent Queen,
Rebecca straightened herself pr